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I've added flog to my Facebook account. I'm hoping that will motivate me to work on this blog. :)
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Yesterday Kirk performed with "In His Hands" puppet team at The Celebration Area Council's "Back to Business, Back to School" Trade Show. Check out the videos!
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Today was a BIG day in our family's life! James left this afternoon with our church youth group for a mission trip to inner city Miami. They will be working with the DOOR organization while there. "Activities of the week may include working alongside migrants in the field or engaging in recreational and learning activities with their children; interaction with homeless people at a homeless shelter by serving food or singing with them; sorting donated food or clothing at a redistribution center; lawn and building maintenance for individuals; walking through various city neighborhoods; meeting with and listening to groups who are working for change in the city. There will also be times for reflection on the events of the day. " (from the DOOR website) James is very excited about this opportunity & we are excited for him! It's the first time that he's been away from home for an extended period of time without a family member! He's also without a form form communication! NO ELECTRONICS ALLOWED! Yikes! For ME that means that I can't call him on his cell phone at the end of the day to check up on him! For him that means NO IPod! Not to worry... most of the chaperones are friends of mine & as adults THEY have their cell phones & my number! Their cell numbers are now on my speed dial! LOL I'm sure that the entire group will have a great time & learn alot! For James it's one looooong field trip! I forgot to take my camera today, so I took these with my phone.
Prayer for the group before they leave for Miami.
My husband & Rick (another dad) help load the kid's stuff to go!
Annette & Amy ready to go!
John (our youth leader) making sure that everything is ready to go!
James was VERY happy to be assigned to ride in Beth's van!
James loaded up & ready to go!
Bye mom & dad! Don't let Kirk & Luke mess up my room!!!!!! "For I know the plans I have for you," decalres the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plan to give you hope and a future." |
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Hooray! My husband showed my how to capture video from the camera last night! Now I can share our trips in moving pictures! Below are videos of Luke's Birthday party. I'll work at getting some of our other adventures up soon! Dancing with Chuck E Cheese
Chuck E Cheese "Happy Birthday" Song
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Thanks to the Forum, I think that I've figured out how to post videos! Now I have to have my husband show me how to get them off of the video camera & onto the computer! Here's one of Luke playing soccer in the fall. It's kinda long, but the only on that I have access to right now.
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We took a GREAT Sea World field trip in April with Mr. Bill Clifton from Science Partners! He & his wife, Marilee, led our homeschool group through Sea World sharing how God reviels himself through creation. It wasn't ALL about the animals either! The kids also learned about the plant life around the park, and the importance of water conservation. This was a great trip for ALL ages. Mr. Clifton was great at conveying his lesson to Luke (6) as well as James (14) and everyone in between! The ONE and ONLY problem with this trip was that it was the week before Easter which is a insanely busy week at central Florida theme parks!
Luke with Dad at the Stingray Lagoon
James & Kirk with the Stingrays.
Luke helped illustrate the difference between how fish & whales swim.
Our South Lake Home Educators group in front of the Manatee exhibit.
Mrs. Clifton kept the group on schedule!
Penguin Encounter
Mr. Clifton explaining the difference between puffins & penguins.
Mr. Clifton shows off a shark's tooth.
After our time with Mr. Clifton was over, we went to check out the Shamu "Believe" show.
We sat in the very top row.
Luke hamming it up for the camera!
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We had Luke's birthday party yesterday at Chuck E Cheese in Lakeland. FL. It was his request that we have his party there. It was also his FIRST visit to ANY Chuck E Cheese! I've successfully avoided it with him until now! LOL It think that the last time that we were at on Kirk we around 2 years old. He's 11 now! Everyone had a good time, especially Luke! Here are a few pictures of the fun!
A sign announcing the birthday boy & his age!
We ordered a pirate cake at Publix. They gave us 20 extra game tokens for bringing our own cake. It was also WAY better than the cake that they provide with their package! We got antoher 20 for booking online!
Luke with his older (by six months) cousin, Kaylie.
My other niece, Rebecka.
Luke play with the trains.
Dancing with Chuck E Cheese.
More dancing
Say "Cheese"
Make a wish Luke! |
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Today we celebrated Luke's 6th Birthday. We went to see Ratatouille this evening & then had Grandma & Papa Roberts over for cake afterwards. We'll have his party with other family & friensds a Chuck E Cheese on Sunday afternoon. Here are a few pictures from tonight.
Luke with his birthday cupcakes.
Blowing out the candles.
Yuummmmm! |
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Today is Luke's 6th birthday. Two weeks ago James & Kirk went to spend time with my mom on Florida's west coast. It gave Luke & me a chance to spend some time together. Here are a few pictures of our afternoon at Sea World.
Luke wanted to sit close!
So, we sat in the SOAK ZONE!
In the SECOND row!
Luke got SOAKED!
I covered with a poncho & stayed fairly dry!
After the show,
Luke played at Shamu's Happy Harbor.
Then we rode some of the kid rides.
There's a NEW carousel with an under the sea theme!
Take my picture mom!
One last picture on the way out of the park! |
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I'm taking advantage of some of the time "off" this summer to catch up on some of the trips that we took this past year. We don't actually take the whole summer off. In fact, James is working on math right now. We like to get as much work done in the summer as possible, so that when the weather is cooler in the fall & spring we can enjoy it! Right now it SOOO hot out in Florida that I have to push them out the door even to go in the pool!
The Family at Disney MGM Studios
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We spent the Fouth of July at Celebration, FL. It rained, but we had fun anyway. The weather cleared just in time for the fireworks.
Kirk, Luke, and John (a family friend) pose with Osceola County Mounted deputies.
Luke gets to know one of the horses!
The horses were moved into a breezeway when the heavy rain started.
Our group followed them! This is James waiting out the rain.
For the first time EVER I actually remebered to bring the sparklers! The rain stopped in time for us to light them before the BIG fireworks show!
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We spent the day with our homeschool group on May 14, 2007 at Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, Florida. We ALL had a great time! I wish that we had more time to spend there! We had rain in the afternoon which abbreviated the time that we were able to spend in the waterpark. The gardens are still beautiful though! All of the kids enjoyed the rides. The bumper cars seemed to be a favorite for ALL ages! I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, and some of them had corrupted files when I tried to upload. Here are the ones that came out.
Luke on the Boardwalk Carousel
Luke ready for the fun slide!
That was great!
James, Zach, & Shane ready to drop!
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In this entry I'm going to go back a few months to a field trip that took us back in time. Railroads & trains are a BIG thing for our family! James has always loved model trains & anything railraod related. People said that he would grow out of it, but that hasn't happened! In September we had the oppotunity to join our homeschool group, South Lake Home Educators, on a field trip to the Inland Lakes Railraod in Mt. Dora, FL. The group that went was mostly younger kids, but I do recommend this trip for kids of ALL ages! We've been before just with the family, and it's a great outing!!! It's also nicely priced at $12 for adults & $8 for kids ages 2-12. Children under 2 are free. They also offer special group rates & Lunch and Dinner excursions.
All Aboard!
Luke's ready to go!
Kirk waiting for the trip to start
James & Zach in the train car.
Luke checks out the engine!
James! Get your head back in the train!!!
The group! |
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Living in Central Florida allows us to take advantage of numerous Theme Park field trips! On December 15th we did our annual treck "around the world" at Epcot Center to see how other countries celebrate the holidays. Each country has a storyteller to explain the holiday traditions. Here are a few of our favorites!
French Pavillion
Father Christmas at the United Kingdom
Italy
Germany Here are a few shots from Lunch at the Garden Grille in The Land pavillion
Pluto attacks Kirk!
Mickey & the boys
Luke with Pluto
Luke gives this lunch the thumbs up! |
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It's been almost a month since we finished our vacation. We've been trying to get back into our homeschool routine. Well, I'm still not really sure that we're back in our routine! Here are a few pictures of the journey home!
Checking out of the last hotel that we stayed in during our stay in Boardman, OH.
The boys waitng for our flight out of Akron/Canton airport.
James on the plane.
Kirk on the plane.
Luke on the plane.
We wanted pictures of the boys in all of the states that we visited. This is during our layover at Cincinatti /Northern Kentucky airport.
Back where we started! The boys on the shuttle at Tampa International Airport.
Luke was wiped out! He slept all the way home from the airport!
Thanks for sharing our vacation with us! I'll be posting pictures of any field trips that we take throughout the year! |
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One of the things that I wsa looking forward to on our trip into Ohio was visiting the Cider Mill! Ther's NOTHING like fresh apple cider. It's one of the fond memories of fall up north. I'm not one for cold weather, so after fall I usually didn't go back outside again until spring! We took the boys to Haus Cider Mill In Canfield, OH on Thursday. It was cold (compared to what we're used to in Florida) and raining, but we had fun watching them make cider & shopping. Let's not forget the FREE samples! YUMMMM!
Apples being sortted
Apples mashed & ready for pressing.
In the racks before pressing.
After pressing.
Pasturization machine.
Ready for sale.
Luke ready to buy his cider! |
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We left Mentor on Wednesday to visit my father's parents in Poland, OH. We also took the opportunity to visit friends around the area. We drove through Mill Creek Park on the way to dinner with friends that night & spent a little time in the Fellows Rvierside Garden. During our time in the gardens we saw many caterpillars. In Florida we don't really see them, and if we do, we don't touch them because some types can sting! UGH! All of the boys had a good time playing with the little creatures!
Me putting a caterpillar in Luke's hand.
James with a caterpillar.
Kirk with a caterpillar. |
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After Lawnfield, we took a short trip over to Fairport Harbor Marine Museum & Lighthouse. They were closed for the season (an idea foreign to kids from Central Florida) but we got some nice pictures around the lighthouse & of Lake Erie.
If you'd like, you can take a virtual tour of the lighthouse at the Fairport Harbor Historical Society website.
The Lighthouse
A family shot.
The boys looking out over Lake Erie.
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During our trip to Mentor, OH we visitied Lawnfield, the home of James A Garfield and his family. During the house tour the children are offered "activity packet". It's a nice idea, but I find that my kids get distracted & don't learn nearly as much if they're fumbling with papers. Part way through I collected the packets & put them away for them to fill out later.
Admission to Lawnfield is reasonable just $8 for adults, $7 for seniors, & $6 for childern 6-12 years old. AAA members recieve $1 off.
The front of Lawnfield
The back
The boys on the front steps.
The windmill was made in Kendallville, IN.
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On Monday we left Sandusky for Mentor, OH. My mom grew up in the area & my family lived there for a time when I was growing up. We arrived at my grandparents house in the early afternoon, just in time for lunch... RIBS! Lots & lots of ribs! After lunch we all left for Cleveland to take in a ball game. The Cleveland Indians vs. The Chicago White Sox. It was a great game!!! We won 14 to 1. The best part was when we were treated to a GRAND SLAM HOME RUN! The boys were SOOO excited! I even got to see my mom & uncle (her brother) high five each other! LOL Then after that we got featured on the big stadium screen!
My family with my grandparents in front of Jacobs Field
Me and the boys before the game.
Luke waiting for the game. He packed his hat on his own when he found out that a game was on the schedule!
James eyes the field before the game.
"Buy me some peanuts and cotton candy???"
A dog at the ball park!
It got a little cool at the game!
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